The NFL is on the verge of meeting commissioner Roger Goodell’s goal to surpass $25 billion in revenue by 2027, a benchmark set for the world’s richest sports league nearly two decades ago.
The league had roughly $23 billion in revenue in the fiscal year that ended last March, a figure that includes both national sponsorships and media deals, plus sales made locally by all 32 franchises. The NFL should approach $25 billion by the end of the current fiscal year, and if not, it will certainly do so in the year that ends in March 2027.
The NFL has the escalators in the league’s current media deals—worth an average of $11.4 billion per year—plus growth in the NFL’s corporate partnership sales and ancillary media income to thank for helping them hit that number.
Last week, for example, government regulators approved the league’s billion-dollar tie-up with ESPN, allowing the two sides to close their deal. In exchange for NFL Network and some other assets, the NFL is taking a 10% ownership stake in the Disney-owned network, which will allow it to receive ESPN dividends in the future. As an offshoot of that deal, the NFL has four previously scheduled Monday Night Football games it can sell elsewhere next season.
A representative for the NFL didn’t respond to questions about the league’s current financial projections or where it stands in the quest for $25 billion.
The NFL’s $23 billion in revenue last fiscal year was comprised of about $14 billion in national revenue shared with all 32 teams, about $8.3 billion generated by teams locally and the balance in sales that stay with the league’s central office, according to Sportico calculations. That total was an 8% jump from the previous year. A similar 8% jump in the fiscal year that ends next month would put the league on the edge of $25 billion right now.
Broken down in slightly more detail, the national revenue shared with teams jumped 7.5% last year, and teams expect a similar increase this year. That would put the national piece at about $15 billion. Local revenue from tickets, stadiums and sponsorships should approach $9 billion in this current fiscal year based on recent growth rates. Add in the dollars that stay at the league, and again, that puts the NFL right around $25 billion.
Regardless of when it hits the number, the NFL remains the financial king of U.S. sports. As a rough comparison, MLB revenue in 2024 was about $12.8 billion, followed by the NBA at $12.3 billion. The NHL was about $7.9 billion, with MLS at about $2.2 billion.
And while they all make the majority of their money from three things—sponsorships, national media rights and ticket sales—there are subtle differences. The NFL is the most reliant on its national media and sponsorship, particularly given its lack of major local TV deals, and the least reliant on ticket sales, given the relatively short 17-game season.
Goodell set the $25 billion target at owners’ meetings back in March 2010, when the NFL’s revenue was about $8 billion. To reach the goal, the league needed to add about $1 billion in revenue per year for nearly two decades. Like all major U.S. leagues, revenue growth is not smooth or linear. It jumps in spurts thanks to major commercial deals, like the 11-year, $113 billion worth of TV deals that the league signed in 2021.
Those contracts could soon be the source of another major jump. The league can opt out of its contract following the 2029 season, something it is likely to do, opening the door to a steep increase earlier than originally contracted. There’s also the possibility of another game added to the regular season, which could increase revenue in a few different ways.
Other revenue growth is on the table. The Buffalo Bills, Tennessee Titans and Cleveland Browns are moving into new stadiums in the next few years, the NFL continues to expand its international business, and like the media deals, corporate sponsorships tend to grow year-over-year. The NFL has also become a more active investor in recent years, looking to profit off of all the ways football makes money around the globe.